When spine surgery is an option, The Missouri Spine Institute is the best option you have.

John D. Spears, D.O.

Dr. John Spears is a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon and the active director of Missouri Spine Institute. Dr. Spears received his doctor of osteopathy degree from Michigan State University. He then completed his Internship and Orthopedic Surgical Residency at Henry Ford Horizon in Warren, MI. Dr. Spears continued on to complete a Spine Surgery Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fl.

His primary focus is on adult degenerative/reconstructive surgery of the spine, exclusively minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Spears started his practice in Central Missouri back in 2004. Dr. Spears is a United States Army veteran, having served seven years of active duty as a member of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne), commonly known as the Green Berets.

Dr. Spears is married and has four children. In his personal time, he enjoys the outdoors with his family including hunting, fishing, and shooting sports.

Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas (R.N.F.A) is a registered nurse, first assist who has worked with Dr. Spears since January of 2007.

Prior to his employment with The Missouri Spine Institute, Jason worked for Capital Region Medical Center as a surgical nurse for 10 years. His primary responsibilities include working alongside Dr. Spears in the clinic evaluating patients, providing quality patient care and patient education, and a variety of other clinical functions such as patient triage.

While at the hospital on dedicated surgery days, Jason aides Dr. Spears and the hospital staff with the pre-and post-surgical care of patients and also serves as Dr. Spears’ first assist in the operating room for all surgical procedures.

In his time away from the office, Jason appreciates spending time outdoors, hunting, fishing, and operating a small hobby farm at his home.

Amy Wilson

Amy Wilson (R.T.) is a registered radiologic technologist through the A.R.R.T. and the current office manager here at Missouri Spine Institute.

Amy has worked with Dr. Spears since 2004 when he first started practicing in the Jefferson City, Missouri area. In addition to performing all of the radiologic examinations, she is also primarily responsible for coordinating patient surgeries and insurance pre-certifications for surgeries.

Amy additionally assists with scheduling patient appointments, triaging patient phone calls, assisting with patients in the office, and various other administrative duties and clinical duties as needed.

Married with one daughter, Amy and her family enjoy the outdoors and spending time with all their farm animals.

Holly Kirsch

Holly Kirsch, C.P.C., is the medical billing and insurance manager here at Missouri Spine Institute. She has worked with Dr. Spears since 2004 when he initiated his practice in the Jefferson City, Missouri area.

Holly is a C.P.C., certified professional coder, through the AAPC and has 14 years of experience with medical billing and coding; specializing in orthopedic surgery and spine. Holly’s primary duty is to assist our patients with any billing or insurance questions.

She also completes all of the surgery and office coding and billing and is responsible for keeping up with all of the patient accounts receivable. Her other duties include assisting with making patient appointments, answering phones, and IT support.

Holly is married with 2 sons and can be found on the soccer field or traveling when not at the office.

Amanda Ruppel

Amanda is the front office administrator here at Missouri Spine Institute and has worked with Dr. Spears over the past 10 years.